A spokesman for the orchestra, which denied the allegation of gender bias in hiring when the suit was filed, cited unspecified ''behavior'' problems in Polezhayev's discharge, according to the Times.
''He didn't get tenure because he wasn't doing his job,'' orchestra committee chairwoman Fiona Simon said, adding that females in the orchestra were not accorded preferential treatment.
Violin sections of U.S. orchestras frequently have the highest ratio of women to men, currently 2.3 to 1 in the New York Philharmonic, according to its web site.
''I just think it's about having the chops,'' Rita Shapiro, executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, told the Times. ''You'll get the job if you're good. I think gender is immaterial.''